australia's aboriginality

As we round the final turn and begin our run toward the finish, our Australia team has been blessed and sometimes overwhelmed with all God has shown us here in Queensland. A good portion of our last two days has been spent with the indigenous (aboriginal) community- observing, interacting with and learning from them as they live out lives straining toward a greater recognition and equality in this setting.

"Deadly" is a good term here!

  We spent the better part of Friday at NAIDOC(National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) which celebrates the indigenous cultures of the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  It is a festive, carnival-like atmosphere with much joy and thankfulness for the heritages presented.  We watched dances, heard singers and speakers, and interacted with organizations and vendors providing social services information for those in attendance.  

This afternoon we learned to throw boomerangs (some learned better than others) with Goma Conlon, an indigenous pastor and good friend.  He also demonstrated the playing of the didgeridoo (way cool) and talked about what it mans to be a follower of Christ in the aboriginal setting.  Following this, we hopped over to the church at which he and another indigenous pastor are working an shared evening service with them.  It was a great blessing to gather and worship with them.  Josh drummed for their worship team, Don and Alexis shared testimonies and Alexis sang.  What a rich history of stories and struggle were present  among those members!

I thought you might like to share one more collection of photos of this great team:

NAIDOC festivities in downtown Brisbane

Josh and Luke made a new friend

Papa Fresh in da house!

Time for chocolate fondue at Max Brenners

Don sharing testimony at Saturday night service

Remember these guys?! They were the bomb!

Josh and Alexis with Saturday night worship team

Please pray for our last hours here.  I'll preach Sunday morning at Ann Street, and Josh will speak for their Youth Church in the evening.  We want more chances to share the hope that's within us before we leave these shores.  Will you ask God to provide them, and for us to boldly speak of what He's done with our lives and what He wants to do for all who come to Him?  Thanks!  

We'll see youse soon- good on ya!

eidsvold doesn't sound australian

Our 2011 Australia GO! Team has had an incredible experience so far!  We just returned from 4 days in Eidsvold, a small community about six hours from Brisbane.  Our goal was to serve the Christian Center there, along with its new pastor, Mark, and his wife, Alex.  We had such a great time with kids and adults alike, playing sports, working through Bible lessons and crafts, singing, eating and running around together.  We also got better acquainted with different adults in town, learning much about the issues and circumstances surrounding this small community of both white and aboriginal residents.

It's tough to quantify our take-aways from this experience, or the impact we were able to have.  One local businessman did tell me that he appreciated our group being there, even for a few days each year, because he saw positive influence in kids' lives from our interaction with them.  He told me that our presence is a reminder of normality (imagine someone referring to us as normal!), that the world is bigger and more functional than what is seen only through the local lens of the town.  He thanked us for coming again, and offered his encouragement for our return next year.

The following are some more snaps of our last couple of days.  I'll write more about Eidsvold and other good stuff a bit later:

Pastor Mark and his wife, Alex

Prayer circle before leaving Eidsvold

Captain Luke, superhero of the crafts debris!

Lianna mixing it with kids during crafts

Craft Woman Leslee and her monkey

Beautiful Eidsvold kids

Josh and Clinton

Which way back to Brisbane?!

Alexis singing to an appreciative audience

Don (aka Papa Fresh) and the girls, Leslee and Daun

Please keep us in prayers as we head into our final weekend here.  Pray that we'll finish well and will take every opportunity to share the most important message on our hearts.  Pray that we will remain focused on the task at hand and not too distracted by thoughts of getting back to our "regular" way of life.  And pray that God will speak to us, even as He speaks through us, concerning lessons He's been showing us while serving here.  We just can't afford to be the same people when we return as we were before we left.


And those around us can't afford that either.

GO! Australia in Fine Fashion

GO! Australia in Fine Fashion

Wow! it's been a whirlwind first week here in Brisbane for our team. We've tried to update our activities via Facebook, but our long days/evening schedule has hindered blogging up to this point.

Ann Street Church

We made it here with no worries, surprising our missionary (Daun) with her father (Don)!  It was great to see her stunned expression at the airport as he came out the ramp! More than anything throughout this week, we've been impressed with the need and opportunity for relationships.  The young people of the Ann Street Church are so open for friendships, and those connections matter to them.  People with whom we've come into contact are also open to finding more about us and connecting with us on some level.  These opportunities are abundant and fairly easy to negotiate- something all of us are able to do!

Community BBQ

We've been to an island off Brisbane's shore with the church, visited a zoo, cleaned and begun repainting Ann Street's Fellowship Hall, eaten kangaroo, served a Community BBQ (like our Community Supper), dined at the Pancake House in the city at midnite, attended a farewell service for Ron Tatum (visiting for a month from Southside Christian Church in Inglewood), and prayer walked in the city...just to mention a few things. Tomorrow (Sunday), Mike will preach a combined service (Ann St. regulars and their Korean church), then we'll pack up and head to Eidsvold, a small, predominantly aboriginal community 6 hours from here.  Chances are there'll be no way to blog there, so we'll catch you up on our return next Thursday.  Meanwhile, thank you for your prayers and love (keep 'em coming!), and enjoy a few recent snaps:

Daddy Don

Luke the artist

Josh and St. John

Alexis and the Ann St. mob

Work crew gettin' it done

In 'N' Out training pays off 

Beach bunnies!

Mike keeping an eye out

We've experienced a lot in a short time, and there's more to come!  Pray for opportunity and boldness as we represent our God here.  We love you all
!

a voice in kenya

I heard God's voice today.

Our devotional booklet has focused on learning to hear the voice of God, and I've been working on that during the trip. Before leaving for home visits this morning, I asked God specifically to help me hear his voice today.  Our visitations to Tumaini kids and their families took us to a number of homes, some of them with very little.  But one was different than the others.

Louise is a grandmother raising her two grandchildren, Rachel and Wambua, because their mom died several years ago through HIV AIDS.  Dad's still around, but is sickly and probably has the disease as well.  In addition to this loss, Louise has lost other children, one who died giving birth and others to AIDS.  She is a faithful believer, a widow, and probably more than 70 years old.  She struggles just to make sure her family is taken care of.  And Tumaini helps.

Her home consists of a few brick and mud structures that appear little more than small storage sheds.  But she and the kids have used them for shelter since last April.  It was during heavy rains then that another small brick and mud structure in which they were sleeping began to collapse.  Some of the walls gave way in the downpour as the children began screaming, "We're dead! We're dead!"  Somehow, walls that should have fallen on them didn't and they were spared.

As Louise shared her story and we surveyed the half-collapsed home, Stanley said quietly to me, "Tumaini doesn't typically involve itself in building homes, but I believe God wants us to rebuild this one."  It was then God spoke to my heart and said, "You- you and people you know- make sure this home is redone and this family is safe."  I stood there quietly considering the situation.  How could we not?  I acknowledged what I believed I heard, told Stanley what God had laid on my heart, and asked how much it would cost.  He said he would have estimates and a man ready to begin in a couple of days, but he thought it should be about $700.  I calmly thought, "Our missions budget can probably afford that." 

Then I heard God's voice again. "No," he clearly told me, "Not just from your budget. I want greater awareness and ownership from others.  I want you to ask and involve people." 

Really.  That's what he told me.

So there it is.  I believe with all my heart God heard my prayer this morning and spoke to me.  It's not exactly what I was expecting (I'm not sure just what I was expecting), but he spoke.  And I'm kinda excited, because he's either spoken, speaking, or going to speak to someone else about his or her part in this.  If you think God might be speaking to you, let me know.  Soon.  More rains are on the way and this family needs assistance before something else falls.

It's not about the money.  It's about listening.  And responding.  I'm trying to hear him and follow what I believe he's saying to me.  It's not always easy.  Too many voices, too many distractions, too much talking on my part.  But I know something for sure tonight.

I heard God's voice today.

tumaini...it's all about hope

It's 2:30 a.m. and I'm awake.  Preparing for our early morning flight that will take us (eventually) to Kenya.  That's where we'll spend the next couple of weeks working with Tumaini International Ministries.  Tumaini, founded by Stanley and Rose Mutunga, is a Kiswahili word that means hope.  Their focus is to come alongside AIDS orphans, through sponsorship, education and encouragement, and walk with them in their journeys toward adulthood.  These kids have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and usually live with grandparents, other relatives or friends.  Life is hard at best, and sponsorship ($35 monthly) makes the difference between failure and success for hundreds of children, both young and old.

We'll leave LAX at 8:00 today and touch down in Nairobi about 7:30 Wednesday night (11 hours ahead of LA time).  All Thursday and Friday morning will be in this capital city of 4+ million, as we will visit different ministry sites in one of the largest slums in Africa.  Then Friday we'll travel 2-3 hours south and east, to the small community of Masii, where Tumaini has its offices.  Doctor Ron Jurgensen (my favorite dentist!) is with us again and we'll pull teeth for a week for those who'll walk for hours just to sit in his chair and find the relief his skills can bring.  We'll also visit some of the children that our church sponsors, as well as meet with the new church there as they are designing strategies for planting a church in the nearby city of Machakos.  It promises to be a great couple of weeks.

Our team of seven includes KACC and Parkcrest Christian Church (7th St. campus, Long Beach), and our desire is to continue to partner with Parkcrest in this ministry of compassion and church planting.  Please pray for us as we travel, adjust, connect and serve.  Pray for divine appointments with those who need to hear good news, and for boldness to share.  Pray for unity within our team a life-changing experience...for Kenyans and Americans alike.

I recently read some words in Psalms that spoke to me in a fresh way about Tumaini:

He [God] raises the poor out of the dust,

And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

That He may seat them with princes-

With the princes of His people.

                                          Psalm 113:7,8

Tumaini's work has lifted hundreds of children and adults alike from the dust, from life's ash heap, and is even now preparing a new generation to sit with leaders and movers of their land.  Because they're giving an opportunity to those who needed it.  Because they're giving compassion and care to many for whom no one else cares. Because they're giving a vision to many who had lost sight of their futures.

Because they're giving hope.

the land of oohs and oz

Tonight's the night! Sunday, the 28th, our KACC GO! Team Australia boards a Quantas 747 and heads for 2 weeks in Brisbane. There are 16 total team members (some shown in this pic) and they'll have a group in the state of Queensland eagerly waiting their arrival. Since I'm already in country, I'll be able (for once) to actually meet my own team coming into their field of service- at 6:00 am on the 3oth!

Australia's a secular county that has seen declining interest and participation in Christianity for several years. And yet there's a spiritual hunger in the lives of many that is opening their hearts again to the words and path of Jesus. Our team will once again partner with Ann Street Church of Christ in the heart of Brisbane (where our own Daun Slauson serves as a missionary!), joining them in sports and evangelistic outreaches to local youth, as well as in service projects. We'll serve alongside Ann Street as they host their monthly version of our Community Supper, will spend several days in an outback community building relationships with locals there as we share our message of life with them, and will even take in an Aussie Rules football game (seen on left)!

Our goal is to serve the Australian Church in every way possible as we learn about God's work (and our part in it) in another culture. We'll continue to build on relationships begun by prior teams and leave a good base on which future teams may continue to add. Please pray for our effectiveness as servants and witnesses, opportunities and boldness, safety and new life perspectives. And for lives to be touched for eternity- theirs and ours.

And check back here for info and thoughts about this experience. Good on ya!